01/23/2007

College Notebook

Bazuin defensive MVP of Shrine Game

By MARK URBAN

murban@record-eagle.com

Photo courtesy of CMU Sports Information
Central Michigan's Dan Bazuin (McBain) pressures Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks into throwing an interception in the Motor City Bowl.

Even in defeat, Dan Bazuin knows how to make an impact.

Bazuin, Central Michigan University's senior from McBain, was named defensive MVP of Saturday's 82nd East-West Shrine Game.

And Bazuin played for the East squad, which lost 21-3 to the West in the game in Houston.

Central Michigan's career sacks leader had 2½ sacks and two tackles for losses to pick up the honor. Bazuin's East team was under the direction of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula.

"I just went out and did what I had to do and do what I thought was needed to help my team win,” Bazuin said in an Associated Press story. "Unfortunately, we fell short.”

Bazuin had 26½ sacks and 41½ tackles for losses for his CMU career.

He had 10½ sacks, 15 tackles for losses, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries this season to lead Central to the Mid-American Conference title and a victory over Middle Tennessee in the Motor City Bowl. This season Bazuin had 67 total tackles, 24 of which were solo.

• Sophomore forward Corey Couturier (TC Central) had a pair of assists as the Ferris State University hockey team earned a split with Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Nebraska-Omaha win a 6-3 triumph on Saturday.

A plus-one for the game, Couturier had an assist on Brendan Connolly's first-period goal and his second on Cody Chupp's tally in the next period for the Bulldogs (7-15-3, 4-11-2 CCHA).

Courturier had two shots on goal in each of the weekend games. Ferris lost 3-1 to Nebraska-Omaha on Friday.

• The Calvin College women's basketball team remained undefeated in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association with an 85-67 victory over Kalamazoo on Saturday.

Junior guard Nikki Zimmerman (TC West) dished out nine assists to go along with three points and two assists for the Knights (15-1, 9-0 MIAA).

Zimmerman had 12 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal in an 87-63 triumph over Olivet on Wednesday.

• The Brown University men's basketball team posted its first Ivy League victory on Saturday, rallying for a 76-71 triumph over Yale.

Junior guard Damon Huffman (Petoskey) had 16 points, three steals, two rebounds and one assist for the Brown Bears (6-11, 1-1 Ivy League).

Sophomore forward Scott Friske (Charlevoix) added four points, three rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

Huffman is the second-leading scorer for Brown, averaging 13.7 points a game. He also tops the Brown Bears in 3-point and free-throw percentage.

• The Coulter sisters from TC Central posted a pair of top 20 finishes for the University of Alaska-Fairbanks at the NorAm SuperTour cross country ski race at Mount Itasca in Minneota.

Red-shirt freshman Anna Coulter was 10th and sophomore Julia 12th in Sunday's 10K freestyle races. Julia was 14th and Anna 19th in Saturday's 5K classic race.

The sisters are in position to earn spots for the NCAA Skiing Championships in March.

• Central Michigan University senior Amanda Lyon (Mesick) was on the Chippewas' winning 1600 relay (3:48.51) at Saturday's Red Simmons Invitational in Ann Arbor on Saturday.

Lyon was also seventh in the 800 (2:19.15) at the non-scoring indoor meet.

Michigan's Katie Erdman (Cadillac) won the 600 (1:30.08). Teammate Kelly Catino (TC Central) placed 11th in the pole vault (10'10”).

Michigan State's Stephan Shay (Central Lake) was fifth in the men's 3,000 (8:18.43).

• Two area players scored in double digits for the Hope College women's basketball team, but it wasn't enough in an 82-75 loss to Albion on Saturday.

Senior forward Sarah Jurik (Mesick) had 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal while junior center Lindsay Lange (Manistee) added 10 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Dutch (15-2, 7-2 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association).

Lange had five points, three rebounds and one block and Jurik four points, four rebounds and three steals in a 69-46 win over Alma on Wednesday.

Freshman Megan Hoblet (Cadillac) had two points, four rebounds, one block, one assist for Alma (7-8, 3-5).

• After seeing its eight-game CCHA win streak stopped with a 3-2 loss to Western Michigan University on Friday, the Notre Dame hockey team bounced back with a 3-0 shutout of the Broncos on Saturday.

Center Justin White (TC West) had assists on two of the three goals by the Irish (20-5-1, 14-3-1 CCHA).

White had an assist on Tom Sawatske's second-period goal and the lone helper on Brett Blatchford's tally in the third period. The assists were the sixth of the season for White, who was 2-0 on faceoffs in Saturday's game.

White had four shots on goal in Friday's loss.

• Cornerstone University got a big week from senior forward Andy Bronkema (McBain) to beat a pair of Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference rivals.

Andy Bronkema had 19 points, four rebounds, one steal and one block as the Eagles (14-7, 5-1 WHAC) topped Concordia 78-75 on Saturday.

He had 22 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists in an 88-76 victory over Madonna on Wednesday. Junior forward Luke Bronkema (McBain) added seven points and one steal.

Senior guard Adam Kerfoot (Gaylord St. Mary) had 11 points, two assists and two rebounds for Madonna. Kerfoot had seven points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds as Madonna (7-15, 3-3) topped Siena Heights on Saturday.

• The Middlebury College (Vt.) nordic and alpine ski teams opened up the 2007 season at the St. Michael's carnival. Dartmouth won the event with 697 points followed closely by Vermont (686) and Middlebury (679).

Sophomore Cassidy Edwards (Glen Lake) led the Middlebury women's nordic team. She was fourth overall in the five-kilometer freestyle race and helped Middlebury finish fifth in the sprint relay.

Sophomore Andrew Wagner (TC Christian) was among those competing for the Middlebury alpine team. He was third in the giant slalom and 23rd in the slalom.

• The Michigan State University men's basketball team won its third straight Big Ten game with a 91-64 blowout of Penn State University on Saturday.

Junior walk-on Bryan Tibaldi (TC West) scored two points for the Spartans (16-4, 3-2 Big Ten).

• The Lake Superior State women's basketball team cruised to a 79-46 victory over Mercyhurst in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game on Saturday.

Freshman forward Jill Walton (Kingsley) hit all four of her free throw attempts and finished with six points for the Lakers (12-5, 7-2 GLIAC). She also had three rebounds, two steals and one assist.

• Junior guard Jeff Wierzbicki (Elk Rapids) had a pair of double-digit scoring games in two victories by Aquinas.

Wierzbicki had 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal in a 63-55 triumph over the Indiana Institute of Technology on Saturday and 20 points, 13 boards, five assists and three steals in a 94-57 rout of Davenport on Wednesday.

Freshman guard Matt McDonald (Cadillac) had three points and one assist in Saturday's victory. He had eight points, one assist, one steal in Wednesday's win.

• Nine was the number for Hillsdale College senior Lauren Fewins (TC St. Francis) last week. Fewins had nine points in wins over Michigan Tech (69-65) on Saturday and Northern Michigan (83-49) on Thursday.

Fewins also had eight rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot for the Chargers (12-5, 7-2 GLIAC) on Saturday. She contributed five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals against Northern.

• Michigan State women's basketball team beat Michigan on Thursday (66-48).

Freshman guard Kalyn McPherson (TC West) got her fourth straight starting assignment for the Wolverines (8-12, 1-6 Big Ten). She had four points, one assist and one steal against MSU.

• The Central Michigan University men's basketball team suffered a pair of Mid-American Conference losses last week, falling 64-57 to Ball State on Friday and 86-76 to Western Michigan University on Tuesday.

Freshman guard Robbie Harman (TC Central) had five points, one assist and one steal in the loss to Western. Harman added one rebound and one assist in the loss to Ball State for Central Michigan (7-10, 2-3 MAC).

• The Saint Xavier College (Ill.) women's basketball team coasted to an 82-42 victory over Purdue University-Calumet (Ind.) on Tuesday.

Freshman guard Elizabeth Carney (TC St. Francis) had five points, one rebound and one assist in the victory.

Saint Xavier (17-2) is ranked third in NAIA.

• Leading by just one, freshman guard Brandon Herlein (Cadillac Heritage Christian) hit a key 3-pointer to give Grace Bible College a four-point lead with two minutes to play.

Grace Bible went on to beat Northland Baptist Bible College 83-79 on Saturday and snap a five-game losing streak.

• Western Michigan University freshman Jenny Loney (Frankfort) earned her second straight start and had an assist as the Broncos lost 76-72 to Toledo on Wednesday.

The Broncos (8-12, 1-5 MAC) rebounded to beat Ohio 71-55 on Saturday to snap a five-game losing streak.

• The Lake Superior State men's basketball team split a pair of road games, losing 66-62 to Mercyhurst on Saturday and beating Gannon 71-61 on Thursday.

Sophomore guard Mark Morse (Harbor Springs) had 11 points — including three 3-pointers — in addition to four assists and two rebounds in the loss for the Lakers (7-11, 4-5 GLIAC). Morse had 22 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal against Gannon.

• Freshman Austin Randel (McBain) poured in 19 points as North Greenville (S.C.) beat Brevard 83-66 on Saturday. Randel also had three assists for the Crusaders (7-8).

Randel had four points, six rebounds and one assist in an 87-80 victory over Belmont Abbey on Wednesday.

• Davenport University split a pair of WHAC women's basketball games, beating Michigan-Dearborn 83-61 on Saturday and losing 89-78 to Aquinas on Wednesday.

Sophomore forward Lynne Blomberg (Harbor Springs) had 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal in the win by Davenport (16-6, 4-2 WHAC). Freshman guard Angie Hunt (TC Central) pulled down two rebounds.

Blomberg had 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists in the loss to the Saints.

• Junior Maria Kasza (Kalkaska) pulled down five rebounds, scored two points and had two steals in Northern Michigan's 63-54 loss to Wayne State on Saturday. Kasza had three rebounds for the Wildcats (6-13, 2-8 GLIAC) in an 83-49 loss to Hillsdale on Thursday.

• The Wayne State women's basketball team edged Michigan Tech 62-61 on Thursday.

Senior forward Bethany Mesko (TC Central) had four points, one assist and one rebound in the win by the Warriors (8-10, 6-2 GLIAC).

• The Wesleyan University (Conn.) men's basketball team split a pair of New England Small College Athletic Conference games in Maine, beating Bowdoin 63-61 on Saturday after a 75-55 loss to Colby on Friday.

Senior guard Jimmy Shepherd (Charlevoix) had six points, two rebounds, two assists and one block for the Cardinals (6-10, 2-1)

• The Adrian College women's basketball team fell to 7-9 and 2-7 in the MIAA with an 84-72 loss to Saint Mary's College on Saturday.

Senior Meredith Blazejewski (Benzie Central) had three points for Adrian.

• Spring Arbor fell to 3-6 in the Mid-Central College Conference with a 75-65 loss to the University of St. Francis (Ind.).

Senior forward Scott Parrish (Charlevoix) had six points, seven rebounds for Spring Arbor (15-8). Freshman guard Richard Blair (Pellston) added five points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

• The Hillsdale College indoor track team competed at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday. Freshman Katie Christiansen (Glen Lake) was 17th in the long jump.